To Trick a Trickster
by Ravvyn Z. Requiem
Summary: Prequel to Kabhi Kushi's The Start of A Lifetime In Love. FrostIron eventually. What exactly will it take to unite the Avengers and their greatest foe? Lost ties, secrets, threats and... budding romance? Sentiment? Though really, Loki couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather be stuck with. Tony, however, isn't quite so sure. Summary sucks.. But R&R if you want. SLASH
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. Sadly. **

**Warnings: Foul language. Violence. Will become slash later on.**

**A/N: This is a prequel/prologue to Kabhi Kushi's _The Start of a Lifetime in Love. _Go check it out! That being said, I am super stoked to be writing this, and I hope you all enjoy it! FrostIron (Tony/Loki) is definitely my OTP right now, so I hope I can do it justice. I hope for this to be a long running project... Lots of chapters, lots of depth and layers to the plot and characters. Please review, I appreciate all feedback. And sorry in advance for any delay in updates.**

_To Trick a Trickster_

_Prologue_

"Sir, I believe we have a lock. The target has finally stopped moving," Agent Maria Collins spoke to Director Fury as he stepped onto the bridge of the airship that served as S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters.

"Good work. Get me Agents Barton and Romanoff," the tall man replied as Agent Collins hurried to obey his orders.

_Finally found, hm? I wonder if she's finally in our grasp, _Fury wondered as he stared out the window. "Take us down to sea level."

"Yes, sir," one of the agents replied as they began to descend.

"Director," Agent Natasha Romanoff walked up behind the director, Clint Barton close behind, "You wanted to see us. Do you have a mission?"

Nick Fury turned around and eyed the Black Widow and Hawkeye, "Yes. We are landing now. This," he slid an eight by ten photograph across the table they all stood around, "is your target. You are to disable her, and bring her back alive. If she resists, you have orders to put her down."

"Are we sure it's actually her?" Barton asked, speaking for the first time since the briefing started.

"Yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

It was Natasha that spoke up this time, "But she's been on our search list for the past ten years without a trace of evidence to her name. She hardly looks to be older than twenty five. How did she manage to make the list at fifteen?"

Fury sighed, he'd been hoping to avoid this conversation. But now that the topic had been brought up, he had no choice but to offer an explanation of some sort, "You know how prolific this organization is. They control the majority of the world's organized crime, without revealing themselves as being existent. Anyone who can climb to the top, especially in that short of a time frame, will be of interest to us."

The red-head narrowed her eyes, Clint tensed slightly. They could tell that they weren't being privy to the whole truth, but would let it slide. At least until they talked to Stark about breaking through SHIELD's computer defenses to get the full dossier on this girl. "You have your orders," the Director began again, "Get your gear ready."

"Yes, sir," Romanoff turned on her heel and followed her friend and partner off of the bridge.

* * *

Tony Stark sat in his workshop with a tablet in one hand and a glass of scotch in the other as he and Bruce Banner went over the specs for a new enhancement for the prototype Mach VIII. "Sir," JARVIS broke through their discussion, "Agent Natasha Romanoff and Agent Clint Barton are requesting to see you."

The genius sighed and didn't even look up from his work, "Did they say what they want? Ah, never mind. Might as well let the lovebirds in."

"Yes, sir."

Bruce snickered slightly before speaking, "Make sure they don't hear you saying that. Barton may just put an arrow through you."

Stark waved a hand dismissively and stood up. "It would be worth it. After you, Doctor Banner," he grinned as he opened the door.

They made their way toward the sitting room where Natasha and Clint had already made themselves comfortable.

"Hey kids. What news from afar?" Tony greeted them with a winning smile, while Bruce gave a small nod and a fleeting smile in greeting.

Natasha rolled her eyes and Clint, quick as a flash, quipped, "Oh there's plenty, but you wouldn't remember it two minutes from now, gramps."

The genius just smirked before sitting down. "Alright. What is it you two wanted? Last I heard you were supposed to be on a mission for Fury."

"We are... Or we are going to be, but Fury's hiding something."

"And that's news? He's always hiding something," Banner snorted and shook his head.

Barton quickly interjected before Stark could add anything, "It has to do with our target. We need to know what Fury is hiding from us about her. Could you look? Please?"

"Oh, well..." Tony frowned, appearing to be in thought for a moment, "If you're going to ask nicely," he drawled with a winning grin, "I'll look. I guess I'll just forward you the information?"

"Thank you, Tony," Natasha muttered as the two agents prepared to take their leave.

The man nodded, already muttering commands to JARVIS.

* * *

Thor looked up at the sky. It was a sunny day, and he'd been wandering around Manhattan, learning of his surroundings now that the threat of destruction was not imminent. He greatly enjoyed Midgardian weather, it was a nice change from the auroras of Asgard. The tingling in the palm of his hand that held a Midgardian communication device had not abated for the past few minutes. Looking down, he saw Tony Stark's face glowing on the screen. Blinking for a few moments, he pressed the green button that said 'accept' and put the phone to his ear. "Stark? What is it you need?"

The voice on the other end of the line came through crisply. "There's some information you guys are going to want to see. See if you can find Cap on your way here."

Before the demi-god could reply, the billionaire had hung up.

* * *

**There's the prologue! Hope you enjoyed it. I hope to get it moving a bit more in the next chapter. There's a couple kinks here and there, but hopefully I can write through them. Anyways, reviews = love = more writing. Sorry for such a short chapter :/**

**Ravvyn**


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. Sadly. **

**Warnings: Foul language. Violence. Will become slash later on.**

**A/N: Chapter numero uno. Thank you all for the reviews/alerts/favs. Honestly, I wasn't expecting so many hits so soon. It's inspiring, really. But before I bore you too much, enjoy the chapter. Feedback is, as always, greatly appreciated.**

_Chapter One  
_

They all congregated in Tony's living room - or one of them. Holographic screens surrounded them, displaying what appeared to be surveillance videos, old photographs and the other information contained in the classified dossier that Jarvis had acquired an hour prior. Another screen displayed Natasha and Clint's faces, the video being relayed from an untraceable Stark Industries phone.

"What does this mean?" Steve was the first to speak as the assembled Avengers attempted to process the information before their eyes.

"Well, either she knows a great anti-ageing program," Stark began, "Or-"

"Or," Bruce spoke up, "she's found a source of immortality."

Clint didn't look amused, "And Fury wants us to bring her back?"

"It says here she was born somewhere in Scandinavia, known as Morrigan Heldatter - no way to know if that's her birth name or an alias - wow. This is an incomplete dossier, especially coming from S.H.I.E.L.D... Says she was born in 1943..." Steve scanned the document, "That makes her over seventy years old."

Thor's rumbling voice was heard for the first time since Tony'd opened up the file, "Is that not the time when Midgardians warred amongst themselves? For the second time?"

Stark's eyes lit up and Rogers tensed, "Do you think...?"

"Hydra?" Natasha interjected, "But that wouldn't make sense. If they had succeeded in creating a serum or something to make someone immortal... wouldn't Schmidt have used it on himself?"

Captain America shrugged, "It's really hard to say. But either way, that base was destroyed. A project of that magnitude definitely would have been developed and stored there, however everything there was incinerated and crushed by the explosion. "

"Hate to contradict you, Spandex, but we're dealing with someone supposedly you know... immortal?"

The Captain was silent, and all eyes turned back towards the two agents. "How are you planing on capturing one of the ;most highly trained mercenaries in the world?" Banner inquired, glasses twirling between his fingers.

"A lot of tranq's?" Clint said slightly jokingly before his partner cut in.

"Given this new intel, we'll have to go all out to take her down. Probably. You wouldn't happen -"

Suddenly, the video cut out and the line went dead.

"JARVIS, what the hell just happened?" Tony barked, all the while manipulating the interfaces around him to suit his needs.

"It appears sir, that their signal is being blocked. I have tried to reconnect but my attempts have failed," the posh accented voice of the AI reported.

"Then we must hope that our friends have the means to complete their mission," Thor boomed.

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement beefore dispersing throughout the mansion. Thor and Rogers went to the sparring grund which Tony had had built - below the ten levels of R&D and the apartements they all inhabited - to be sound, Mjölnir, and shield-proof. The two geniuses went to work in the labs; Tony had an idea for something that would prevent the signals being blocked and Bruce wanted to research some more on the girl's supposed immortality. Without even having said a word, the team known as the Avengers had jumped into action, preparing in every way possible.

* * *

"Fuck! What could have blocked this signal like that?" Clint stared at the phone with a scowl on his face.

"We can worry about that later, Clint. We have company."

Hawkeye looked out the window of the abandoned warehouse that served as their temporary hide out. He spotted a knot of people approaching, only one of them seeming to be female - they all wore hooded jackets or sweaters, making it hard to distinguish their faces or genders. "Is that her in the center?"he inquired.

His partner peered down at the person the entourage or armed men surrounded, "Seems like it. You think you can take her down? I'll take care of the guards."

Barnot nodded as Romanoff began the descent to the bottom floor. He drew and arrow from his quiver and nocked it to the bowstring. The projectile, aimed for her back, suddenly sprouted from the chest of a black clad man who slumped down, dead. Grey green eyes stared up at the pair, expression blank. A few muttered words and hand signals later, the small force had dispersed, leaving the young woman vulnerable. The archer soon saw Natasha's fiery red hair in the alley below and rappelled down to meet her as she began speaking.

"Morrigan Heldatter," the spy began, "We're going to have to ask you to come with us. It would be in your best interest if you cooperated."

The girl smirked, the expression sending a small shiver down Clint's spine. It was eerily familiar. "I do apologize, Agent Romanoff," she spoke in a lilting accent not unlike that of Thor or Loki, the smirk never leaving her lips, "but I have no intention of co-operating. That would be terribly...dull."

"Not dull," Clint cut in, nocking another arrow to the string, "but rather quite messy. For you."

Shaking her head, the raven haired girl turned on her heel and began walking away, "No, Agent Barton. It has already become quite messy. For you. I hope you both enjoy your day. It is a pleasure meeting you."

Natasha noticed for the first time, as the woman left, ducking and weaving this way and that until she was about five meters from them, that all of the guards had disappeared. She hadn't even met any on her way out, they'd simply vanished. Then the sun came out from behind the clouds and a sparkle of light caught the two agent's eyes. "What -" Clink began as they looked at the spidery thin threads that ran between the buildings.

His fingers brushed one of the threads, just ever so slightly. Next thing they knew, the world was a mass of fire, smoke and debris. A series of explosions left their ears ringing as the building crashed down around them. The pair was thrown in opposite directions to lay flat on their faces, gasping for breath.

"Clint?" the Black Widow called out weakly after the booming and crashing had subsided a couple minutes later.

She tried to gather her legs underneath her, still disoriented and discombobulated from the blast. When only the silence called back to her, she tried again, pushing the panic from her mind. "Clint?"

A few seconds later, she was about to call out again before the faint reply reached her ears, "'M here..." the man muttered loudly as he tried to pick himself up, getting reoriented.

Blood dripped from a cut on his head and a gash in his leg. "So, I think... it's time we talked to Fury. Well, after we tell the others what happened here," the brunette panted as he walked up to his friend.

"Definitely. Let's get out of here, there should be a jet waiting for us on the tarmac. We'll patch ourselves up," she finally began to take stock of her injuries - mostly scrapes and burns - as she spoke, "And we'll get in contact with Stark."

* * *

**O.O I finished chapter one already? This must be a record. I hope you liked it. Feedback is appreciated, so loved or hated or somewhere in between, please let me know! (If you haven't noticed, the review button has been revamped and made prettier as of late :D)**

**See you next chapter!**

**(or in another story!)**

**Ravvyn~ **


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